#13 Jacks Handle (RV) McNeese in Season Opener

Saturday, August 29

Lake Charles, LA

6:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

1-0 , 1-0

McNeese State

0-1 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
SFA	10	14	14	0	38
McNeese	7	0	6	14	27

Photo by: Alex Nabor

#13 Jacks Handle (RV) McNeese in Season Opener

8/29/2026 11:13:00 PM | Football

Box Score

SFA uses strong start on the road, locks in late to extend regular season win streak

By: Jacob Pumphrey, Assistant AD for Communications

LAKE CHARLES, La. – #13 Stephen F. Austin used over 420 yards of total offense, a stout defensive effort in the opening half hour of play and buckled down late to earn a 38-27 season-opening victory over (RV) McNeese in front of more than 10,000 fans on Saturday night inside Navarre Stadium.

First-year Lumberjack Makai Frisby picked off two McNeese passes, including one he returned 35 yards for a touchdown, Jaylen Jenkins carried 19 times for 82 yards and a touchdown and Gavin Rutherford threw for a career-high 302 yards and three touchdowns.

Offensively, the Lumberjacks collected two dozen first downs, scored 17 points off turnovers and manufactured ten plays of 15+ yards including eight threw the air with five of those going for 30+ yards and to four different targets. Defensively, the Jacks forced three turnovers, registered nine tackles for loss, three sacks and four quarterback hurries.

McNeese engineered a balanced opening drive using a third-down rush from Omiri Wiggins to extend the possession which ended with Jake Strong connecting with Elisha Edwards from 45 yards out for the game's first points. The drive totaled 75 yards in just five plays. However, over the Cowboys' next three first quarter possessions, the Jacks held the Pokes' offense to just 15 yards on ten plays.

SFA responded to McNeese's lone touchdown drive needing just 74 seconds in its season-opening possession which began with a 42-yard connection from Rutherford to Derrick Bohler on the Jacks' first play of the new campaign and ended with the former finding a wide-open Bugs Mortimer, who made a man miss near the goal line, to cash in a 37-yard reception and even the contest less than five minutes into action.

Lowote Jurkin pounced on a mishandled hand-off for the first forced turnover of the Caid Faske era to set the Jacks up inside the McNeese15. Eight plays totaled only seven yards, but the Jacks took the lead as Carlos Alvarado knocked through a 31-yard attempt for a 10-7 advantage.

A 68-yard drive was extended after Rutherford found Clayton Wayland on a 3^rd and 10 to the McNeese16. Jenkins carried for a tough 15 and immediately capped the drive by going over the top from a yard out for the two-possession advantage.

The Lumberjack defense continued to tighten in the second quarter, forcing two punts and using the interception return TD from Frisby to grab a 24-7 lead.

Following the intermission, Rutherford found Wayland again, this time from 35 yards out along the McNeese sideline for the first score of the second half and connected with Stetson Sarratt on a 33-yard strike along the Lumberjack sideline to sandwich a big 75-yard scoring rush from McNeese's Wiggins.

The Rutherford-to-Wayland touchdown was a result of Frisby collecting a batted ball for his second interception of the game which he returned 27 yards to just outside the redzone. Wiggins would score again, this time less than three minutes into the fourth quarter in response to Sarratt's score. That drive started after Jurkin applied pressure on a fourth down attempt to force an overthrow to an open target.

A'Amear Walton earned the final of three SFA sacks on the night as he got to McNeese backup Devin Lippold to end a fourth down try late to nearly put the game on ice.

POSTGAME NOTES

Eight first-year defenders recorded at least a tackle with six accounting for multiple stops
Alvarado crossed over the 100-career point mark in the win and nearly hit from 51 yards away on a third quarter attempt
Malachi Williams and Eli Ennis each collected eight tackles with Ennis leading the unit with five solo stops
Gary Seidenberger and Jaiydyn Johnson both recorded five tackles
Walton added two pressures and an additional TFL to his late sack
Preston Alford registered nine touches for 38 yards including three receptions for 33 yards
Six Lumberjacks caught multiple passes with Mortimer leading with 72 receiving yards and three other Jacks adding over 40 receiving yards
Speedy Jones averaged over nine yards per touch with a long rush of 22 yards
Jenkins (91 yards), Mortimer (72) and Frisby (62) all registered 60+ all-purpose yards

ABOUT THE WIN

The victory pushes SFA's regular season winning streak to 11 games
The win is the ninth-straight for the Lumberjacks in SLC play
The result is the first win on the road in a season opener since 2003 when the Jacks held off ULM 23-21
SFA closes the gap in the all-time series with the Cowboys to 23-17-2
It is the seventh win in 21 tries for SFA in Lake Charles and the first on the road since the 2016 season
It marked the first time the Jacks have won consecutive games against the Cowboys since 2010 and 2011
SFA has won half of its 100 season openers with Saturday's result as the record for the Lumberjacks in lid lifters moves to 50-45-5
It is the 232^nd win for the Lumberjacks as a Division I program
The victory is the 45^th for Carthel at SFA and the 104^th in his career
Carthel moves four wins shy of setting new program records in overall wins and SLC wins

QUOTABLES

Will be available soon.

UP NEXT
The Lumberjacks return home to kick off the 54^th season of action at Homer Bryce Stadium and will carry an eight-game home winning streak, which dates to the 2024 campaign, into the September 5 matchup with East Texas A&M. The Jacks are 26-6 inside HBS since the start of 2020. SFA and ETAM meet for the 60^th time on the gridiron in an all-time series historically dominated by the Lions (44-14-1). However, the Jacks have won three of the last four matchups and three-straight in Nacogdoches.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
There's never been a better time to lock in your seat at Homer Bryce Stadium! Season tickets are on sale now, offering the best value for a six-game home slate. Don't miss a single snap as SFA looks to defend its Southland Conference title. Visit www.SFATickets.com to secure your season tickets today and be part of the action all season long. Single-game tickets are also available for all six of the Lumberjacks' regular season contests in Nacogdoches.

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